On 14 October 2026, the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) awarded its annual prize for the best numismatic book of the previous year at a ceremony conducted at the Curia Julia (the Senate House) in the Roman Forum. The awardee was Stefano Bertuzzi, for his 3-volume magnum opus, Corpus Numismatum Omnium Romanorum Pontificum: Pio IX nelle medaglie, nelle croci capitolari e nella faleristica [Corpus Numismatum Omnium Romanorum Pontificum: Pius IX in medals, capitular crosses and phaleristics], published by Edizioni D’Andrea in Rome.

Umberto Moruzzi and Moruzzi Numismatics organized the event as a follow-up to a successful IAPN Congress held in Rome at which Mr. Bertuzzi’s work was voted the winner of this year’s prize. 

Mr. Moruzzi reflected on the event as follows: 

The setting was magnificent — just think, that extraordinary hall was once the meeting place of the Roman Senate!  In addition to the 50–60 people attending in person, the conference was streamed live by the Ministry of Culture, giving it a much, much wider reach.

The regional television news program, TG3 Lazio, filmed extensively, and I believe we may receive television coverage.

A number of speakers took part, and their contributions were substantial and thought-provoking. Particularly important were the remarks by Professor Arnaldo Morace Pinelli, who also spoke via video at the IAPN Congress, and above all those of the Director-General of the Ministry of Culture, who spoke strongly in favor of private collecting and a more liberal approach to the numismatic market.  Peter Preston-Morley, the Chairman of the IAPN Publication Committee, also gave an excellent speech, available here: IAPN Book Prize 2026 award speech.pdf

The Book Prize ceremony was a deeply felt occasion, and the winner was visibly moved at times. Afterwards, everyone spoke of what an exceptional event it was, praising both the contributions I have mentioned and the prize-winning book. I believe it was a wonderful opportunity to promote the IAPN and numismatics as a whole.

Since 1982, IAPN has annually conducted its book prize award honoring numismatic authors for what the organization considers “the best numismatic publication of the year”.  This year 27 books were entered for the Prize, four from Asia, 16 from Europe and seven from North America.

This year’s second and third place winners received their awards in conjunction with numismatic events held in the United States and United Kingdom.  Daniel Sedwick received his second-place award for Arce’s Doubloons: A die study of the Colombian gold cob coinage of assayer Arce in the name of Charles II, 1692-1714. That award was given on August 26, 2026, at the IAPN Cocktail Party held in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. See https://www.iapn-coins.org/general-news/13686240.  The third-place winner, Sir Mark Jones, received his award for William Wyon, published by Spink at the British Numismatic Society’s Summer Meeting, which this year was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 27., 2026.

 For more about IAPN's book prize, see https://www.iapn-coins.org/book-prize